Moscow. DECEMBER 9, 2021. PIR PRESS. “Currently, the UN and especially the Security Council have become the arena of confrontation between the five permanent members of the Security Council, so states are increasingly inclined to solve security issues on their own. What task can BRICS undertake in the current situation? BRICS stands for equal and indivisible security, a democratic world order in which there will be no place for discrimination. The Group has great potential and, undoubtedly, should make a more significant contribution to solving issues of peace and security.” – with these opening remarks, Dr. Georgy Toloraya, Deputy Chair of the Board of Russian National Committee on BRICS Research, welcomed the session “BRICS: Measuring International Stability and Security”, which was organized within the BRICS International School.
The session was held on November 30, 2021. During the session Dr. Vladimir Orlov, PIR Center Director and MGIMO Professor, Georgy Mikhno, Deputy Director of the Department for New Challenges and Threats of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Dr. Ana Garcia, Director of the BRICS Policy Center in Brazil, Dr. Timofey Bordachev, Academic Supervisor in the Center for Comprehensive European and International Studies of the National Research University Higher School of Economics addressed the audience with their estimations on BRICS possible cooperation in the sphere of international security.
It came as a surprise to see so many inquisitive faces on the screen: the audience numbered about 120 people from Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa, as well as from Serbia, the Philippines, Sri Lanka, Uganda and other countries. The participants showed keen interest in discussing the prospects for cooperation between the BRICS member countries in resolving regional conflicts (primarily in Afghanistan), as well as on issues of arms control, disarmament and nuclear non-proliferation.
During his speech, the director of PIR Center, Dr. Vladimir Orlov, put forward a number of theses:
1. Cooperation within the framework of BRICS corresponds to Russia’s multipolar vision of the world, which is a cornerstone of the Russian foreign policy.
2. It is known that this forum was originally created for economic cooperation. BRIC was established in 2006 when the developing economies were experiencing intense economic growth. Two years later, the whole world was gripped by an acute economic crisis, and economic issues, not security ones, were on the top of the agenda.
Today, due to the increasing political tensions, the inclusion of security issues in the agenda of the BRICS summits seems not only desirable, but necessary.
3. At present, some elements of the global order are suffering a greater crisis than 15 years ago. There are a number of reasons for this:
- The general state of uncertainty in international relations, which has deepened even more with the onset of the pandemic
- Increased contradictions between the states and the growing potential of conflicts.
- Unilateral diktat, rules-based order & US-made templates for global solutions: the unipolar world serves as a means of justifying dictatorship over other people and countries
- The very notion of ‘national sovereignty’ became a relative value for most countries
- Non-compliance to the norms of international law
- The very notion of ‘national sovereignty’ became a relative value for most countries
- Development of high-precision strategic weapons, which, in terms of their technical indicators and the consequences of their use, are approaching those of WMD
Russia should look for effective and often asymmetric solutions to these threats. Russia’s interaction with other BRICS states shows that many of them perceive these threats in a similar way.
4. Security cooperation should include the following areas:
- Strengthening the system of arms control, disarmament and non-proliferation treaties, preserving its integrity and maintaining the consensus-based nature of the multilateral instruments in the field of disarmament, non-proliferation and arms control. This may seem a paradox, given that India is not a party to the NPT and that Russia, China and India have different positions on the TPNW. But the BRICS countries do not have to seek absolute consensus on all issues. BRICS can act as a useful platform for exchanging views and coordinating positions on non-proliferation, disarmament and arms control issues.
- Cooperation in preventing the proliferation of chemical and biological weapons and its falling into the hands of terrorists. The BRICS countries call for the importance of compliance with the CWC and the BTWC, adopting a legally binding Protocol that provides for an efficient verification mechanism. The positive aspects also include the fact that the New Delhi Declaration confirms the need to start multilateral negotiations on an international convention for the suppression of acts of chemical and biological terrorism, at the Conference of Disarmament in Geneva.
- Cooperation in space. The world now has entered a new Cold War. And the fact that the New Delhi Declaration of September 2021 confirms the intention of States not to unleash an arms race in outer space and prevent its weaponization is of great importance.
- Cooperation in the field of cybersecurity and, more broadly, in the field of ICT. It is necessary to conclude intergovernmental agreements that would create a legal framework for cyber cooperation and would be aimed primarily at preventing the use of ICT for criminal purposes.
During the session, the participants were welcomed to read the PIR Center Occasional Paper “The Sixth letter of the BRICS: International Security and Interests of Russia”. The participants gave a positive feedback of PIR Center research activity.
“The Sixth letter of the BRICS: International Security and Interests of Russia” is available at the link.
The project of the PIR Center “BRICS Potential for Global Peace and Security” is implemented within the framework of the Program on Global and Regional Security: New Ideas for Russia. It is aimed at studying the role of BRICS in solving the problems of WMD nonproliferation, peaceful use of nuclear energy and space, suppression of international terrorism, international cybersecurity and new technologies. Please, contact Alexandra Zubenko, Assistant to Program Director, at zubenko@pircenter.org for further information on this project.
